“U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, some West Wing staffers panicked that they were possibly becoming participants in a coup to overthrow the government. ‘What do I do? Resign?’ one nervous White House staffer asked a friend on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after news broke that a woman had been shot and killed inside the Capitol. The West Wing staffer told the friend that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone was urging White House officials not to speak to Trump or enable his coup attempt in any way, so they could reduce the chance they could be prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. ‘They’re being told to stay away from Trump,’ the friend said. The White House declined to comment” reports Vanity Fair’s Gabe Sherman.

“Cipollone’s purported concern that Trump was committing treason – a federal crime – illustrates the chaos and fear of Wednesday’s unprecedented events. According to a Republican close to the White House, Trump refused to take calls on Wednesday from business leaders who wanted him to call off the insurrectionists. In recent days, as Trump’s bid to overturn the election became increasingly desperate, he expressed anarchist comments in private, a second Republican close to the White House told me. The Republican said Trump told people that he wanted David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to lose the Georgia Senate runoff election as a way of punishing them and Mitch McConnell. ‘Trump told people he is really angry that the senators and McConnell hadn’t stood up for him to challenge the election. He’s happy they lost.’ According to the Republican, Trump has said he’ll be the most dominant force in Republican politics if there’s no party leadership.”

Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham took to the floor of the Senate to argue against the objection of Arizona’s slate of electors to the Electoral College, calling it a “uniquely bad idea.”

“Trump and I, we’ve had a helluva journey,” Graham stated.  “I hate it to end this way.  Oh my God, I hate it.  From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president.  But today, first thing you’ll see.  All I can say is, count me out, enough is enough.”

“Spokeswoman for Hawley confirms he will still object to Pennsylvania during joint session, but will yield his speaking time” reports Politico’s Burgess Everett.

New York Post: “A female Air Force vet and Trump supporter from California has been identified as the protester killed in the Capitol building Wednesday. Ashli Babbit, who was married and lived around San Diego, was fatally shot in the chaos, her husband told KUSI-TV. She had 14 years in the service and done four tours of duty, the station said. Her husband called her a major President Trump supporter. The day before she was fatally shot, apparently by Capitol Police, Babbit tweeted, ‘Nothing will stop us…. they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours….dark to light.'”

A newly-sworn in delegate to the West Virginia legislature live-streamed himself storming the Capitol as part of the attempted insurrection Wednesday afternoon in Washington, DC, West Virginia Metro News reports.

Republican Derrick Evans of Wayne live-streamed a video on Facebook of himself and a group of Trump supporters crowding into the Capitol building.  “We’re in!  We’re in!  Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!” he can be heard shouting.

When reached by Metro News, Evans claimed that he was a member of the media documenting the event. “I want to assure you all that I did not have any negative interactions with law enforcement nor did I participate in any destruction that may have occurred,” he stated.

“JUST IN: ‘This is not news we deliver lightly,’ CBS News reporter Margaret Brennan says as she reports: Trump Cabinet secretaries are discussing invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump. Nothing formal yet presented to VP Pence. ‘I’m talking about actual members of the Cabinet,’ she says” – Ed O’Keefe of CBS News

I am proceeding with my objections on behalf of Arizona with @tedcruz and @RepAndyBiggsAZ

Leftist violence—or any violence— will not deter our mission for truth and transparency. The people need and deserve the truth. #StopTheSteaI2021 @ali @NBCNews @michellemalkin

— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) January 7, 2021

Future Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called out Donald Trump for his part in spurring an attempted coup by Trump supporters who refuse to acknowledge his loss in the November elections. After reopening the Senate, outgoing majority leader Republican Mitch McConnell refused to cite Trump’s or his fellow Republicans’ responsibility for stoking the hatred and violence.

Citing FDR’s legendary statement about the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor as a “day that will live in infamy,” Schumer said, “Unfortunately, we can add January 6th, 2021 to that very short list of days in American history that will live forever in infamy.”

Some asshole on Gateway Pundit wrote this on ‘BREAKING REPORT: Former FBI Agent on the Ground at US Capitol Says at Least One Bus Load of Antifa Thugs Infiltrated Trump Demonstration’:

Amerika’s Rebel Scum Gal • 31 minutes ago
Bare-chested dude with the horned helmet and his buddy waving the Confederate Flag around were identified as antifa by previous photos back in the summer.
Wed, 1/6/2021 7:42 PM

And yet, as Nexstar Media reports: “As a mob of President Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building Wednesday, one face stood out from the crowd in photographs: A tattooed, shirtless man donning horns and red, white and blue face paint inside the chambers. The horned man in question is none other than 32-year-old Jake Angeli, a familiar face at pro-Trump rallies and a purported QAnon conspiracy theorist sometimes referred to as the ‘QAnon Shaman,’ according to the Arizona Republic’s website. In the past year, Angeli has been spotted – often in costume – at various demonstrations across the country, including a Washington D.C. protest after Joe Biden’s presidential win in November. The Arizona native has also been photographed multiple times at the Arizona State Capitol – and in one instance, during a pro-Trump rally in February, held a sign that read, ‘Q Sent Me,’ according to the paper.”

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul told Fox News that the Senate will not support objections to the slates of Electoral College electors if they are challenged by members of the House.

Saying the attack by Trump-supporting insurgents on the Capitol changed the narrative of the Congressional protest, Paul said that the validity of the election should not be in question and that the challenges proposed by Republicans were simply an effort to point out voting irregularities. According to Congressional rules, to initiate debate separately in the House and the Senate on the validity of the electors, a member of each Chamber must sign off on the challenge. Paul’s statement infers that Republican Senators have backtracked on their assertions that they would join such a challenge.

CNN: “Stephanie Grisham, the former White House communications director and press secretary and current chief of staff for first lady Melania Trump, submitted her resignation Wednesday afternoon, effective immediately, in the wake of the violent protests, a White House official says. Grisham was one of the longest-serving Trump administration officials, having begun her tenure working for then-candidate Donald Trump in 2015 as a press wrangler on the campaign trail. Grisham entered the White House as deputy press secretary under Sean Spicer, but in March 2017, Melania Trump hired her for her East Wing staff. As East Wing communications director, Grisham quickly became the first lady’s most prominent staffer, acting as defender, enforcer, and protector.”

In a scathing editorial released immediately after insurrectionist Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol, the Kansas City Star lambasted Missouri’s junior Republican Senator for enraging and supporting the rioters.

“No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday’s coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley, the 41-year-old junior senator from Missouri, who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway,” the editorial states.

“This, Sen. Hawley, is what law-breaking and destruction look like. This is what mobs do. This is not a protest, but a riot. One woman was shot and has died, The Washington Post reported, while lawmakers were sheltering in place.”

Hawley was photographed leaving the rally before it became violent, raising a fist to show unity with the insurgents.  He was the first US Senator to state that he would object to the votes of swing states in the Electoral College.

Republican Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers announced that she has changed her position and no longer intends to challenge the votes in the Electoral College, KXLY 920 AM News reports.

In the immediate aftermath of the insurrection at the Capitol, McMorris Rodgers released a statement as MAGA mobs roamed through the building and she and other members were spirited to safe rooms.

“What we have seen today is unlawful and unacceptable,” she wrote.  “I have decided I will vote to uphold the Electoral College results and I encourage Donald Trump to condemn and put an end to this madness.”

https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970431039934464

In a letter to her Democratic colleagues, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi encouraged her caucus to continue with the Electoral College ratification of the election victory of President-elect Joe Biden after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, CBS News reports.

“We always knew this responsibility would take us into the night. The night may still be long but we are hopeful for a shorter agenda, but our purpose will be accomplished,” she wrote, saying the violence cannot “deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden.”

South Carolina Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn, a veteran of the Civil Rights marches in the 1960s, also tweeted support for carrying out their duty: “I have faced violent hatred before. I was not deterred then, and I will not be deterred now.  Tonight, Congress will continue the business of certifying the electoral college votes.”

MSNBC’s Joy Reid pointed out the inequity in law enforcement efforts to protect public property as video of the police non-violently directing the insurrectionists out of the Capitol and off the Capitol plaza.

https://youtu.be/GuNtUbex-FQ

The overwhelmingly white crowd of MAGA insurrections acted without fear of police response, storming the Capitol, destroying public property and threatening law enforcement.

Stand up and maybe history will look back on you kinder than it will at this point. Convene the cabinet and remove Trump from office, serve as President for two weeks, and participate in a peaceful transfer of power. Preempt any corrupt pardons by Trump of himself or his family. Grow some balls and take over. Do it immediately. Tonight.